10 Things We Learned about the Tenth Doctor: “Rise of the Cybermen”

The Doctor (David Tennant) and Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) – Doctor Who – The Rise of the Cybermen (C) BBC

From the moment he captured our hearts with “Barcelona” to the moment he left us heartbroken with “I don’t wanna go” Here’s a look at what we learn about David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor in “Rise of the Cybermen”

After escaping the 18th Century with a broken heart, the Doctor is back on his TARDIS with Rose and Mickey. This trip, however, is out of whack as they literally fall out of the Time Vortex through the Void and into nothingness. The TARDIS crash landed on the silent realm, the lost dimension, or otherwise known as London, UK. However, this version of Great Britain has a President, Rose is a dog, Pete Tyler is alive, and Mickey has a doppelgänger. Here are 10 things we learn about the Tenth Doctor.

The Doctor and Rose are laughing along as they’re reminiscing their adventures to the point where the Doctor completely forgot about Mickey. Poor Mickey spends a half hour holding on to a button which it should have been only a minute “You just forgot me!” Mickey has every right to be mad. We don’t blame him.

The parallel world is just like our world but slightly different where there are temptations to certain people. In this case, Rose’s dad is still alive and she is very determined to see him. Mickey, on the other hand, wants to visit his grandmother who passed away back in the real world.

Time Lords used to keep their eyes on everything. People used to be able to travel between alternative worlds effortlessly. Unfortunately, the destruction of the Time Lords made it almost impossible to cross between universes now. “When they died they took it all with them. The wall of reality closed. The worlds were sealed“, says the Doctor.

The TARDIS draws its power from the universe but since they’re in the wrong universe, any power grids are useless. Once again, the Doctor’s luck is here to save the day as he discovers a little cell of The TARDIS left and it’s clinging on to life. Since the Doctor is from the same universe as the TARDIS, he can charge it up by giving away 10 years of his life.

With both Rose and Mickey want to go on separate ways to explore the parallel world, the Doctor is left in a tough spot. Since the Doctor can’t go after both of them at the same time, he has to choose one. The Doctor chooses Rose. Mickey knows that would happen, “you can only chase after one of us and it’s never gonna be, is it?”

Against the Doctor’s strong advice, Rose’s mind is made up on going to see her dad. The Doctor feels he needs to look after Rose and to be there for her safety, he has no choice but to let Rose have her way.

For the longest time, both the Doctor and the viewers alike, see Mickey as a loser. He’s a bloke who is not very bright and spends a lot of time falling over. When the Doctor and Mickey are in the TARDIS, the Doctor talks about his people and how things used to be. We don’t normally see the Doctor shares anything with anyone, for a moment, Mickey has that privilege. The Doctor also learns that Mickey’s parents left him when he was young and he was raised by his grandmother. She sadly died when she tripped over a torn carpet and fell downstairs. The same carpet is there to remind Mickey of how useless he is when he visits his gran in the parallel world.

9. The “bad luck tux”

The Doctor wears his tuxedo for the first time but it’s not the last we’ll see of it. The tuxedo is the Doctor’s alternative outfit, in this case, serves as his disguise. The Doctor mentions in series 3’s “The Lazarus Experiment” that bad things always happen when he puts on a tux. The bad mojo starts right here in “Rise of the Cybermen”

“Tooth and Claw” reference:

While The Doctor and Rose are in covert, Rose is a bit annoyed that she disguises as a server. She bickers that they could have been “Sir Doctor” and “Dame Rose” which is a reference to their previous adventure “Tooth and Claw” where Queen Victoria dubbed them with royal titles.

10. Who’s Lucy?

Doctor Who – The Cybermen (c) BBC

Rose can get quite jealous sometimes. We see how she reacted toward Sarah Jane Smith, this time, is no different. It’s a classic girlfriend reaction when a man mentions another woman’s name, she automatically becomes suspicious. The Doctor claims he gets all the information from Lucy, who is a server at the party. Once the Doctor mentions that Lucy said Great Britain has a President (instead of Prime Minister) Rose immediately assumes Lucy is stupid. Women are complicated creatures, no one can truly understand them.

“Rise of the Cybermen” witnesses the return of one of the Doctor’s oldest and most powerful foes. We first saw Cybermen back in 1966 fighting against the First Doctor (William Hartnell) This time around, the Mondas natives get a major upgrade, they look stronger and tougher than ever. How do you fight something with metal skin and has no emotions?

There you have it. These are 10 things we learn about the Tenth Doctor in “Rise of the Cybermen” Next week we continue the second part of the 2-parter episode to conclude this parallel world adventure in “The Age of Steel”

Jeri is a Doctor Who enthusiast and an avid David Tennant fan. She's from Nashville, TN. She enjoys British crime dramas and is a huge fan of Marvel Cinematic Universe. Jeri has great passion for independent films and riding motorcycles. She also thrives on great conversations about David and his brilliant professional life.